The wind picked up as evening settled over the abandoned village. Dull orange light filtered through the broken windows of crumbling houses and ruined buildings. Long shadows stretched across the snow-covered ground, flickering with every gust that passed through broken walls and shattered glass. The air was thinner today. Colder, and somehow heavier as if the entire village was holding its breath.
Adel lay still, her face pale. Laying beside her was the rank seven. He had woken up yesterday but was clearly traumatised from the previous events. Not ones words reached him, except Orrin's.
Mira was sat on a chair beside him, quietly reading through her herbarium.
Snow crunched underfoot, soft and brittle, as Lira tightened the straps on her gloves and adjusted her scarf. She had found both at the market place.
Her breath came out in quick puffs, vanishing into the dusk.
"Alright," she said, turning to the group that had gathered in the shadow of the old town hall. The building loomed behind them, its facade pitted with age, its bell long fallen and lost to time. "We cover the village's edge. If there are any cracks or hidden paths leading deeper into this place, we need to find them."
Calem gave a nod, the edges of his fur-lined hood stiff with frost. "We've already gone through the main streets and the trade quarter. There could be something along the walls. Places we missed."
Korr grunted, thumbing the edge of his axe. The blade was chipped, but still sharp enough. "I don't like splitting up."
Renn adjusted his satchel and offered a nervous laugh. "You never like splitting up."
"That's because people die when they do," Korr muttered, eyes narrowing.
Gray remained quiet. He watched the snow-draped buildings surrounding them, his gaze flicking from alley to rooftop, scanning for movement that didn't belong. Every shadow seemed to stretch too far. Every corner felt like it hid something watching. Finally, he spoke. "We'll stay close. Sound off every few minutes. Don't lose line of sight for long."
"And.... let's avoid the unexplored region, Alright?" Calem gave everyone a serious look as he spoke.
Gray narrowed his eyes but avoided his gaze.
'What's with him and that road, why is he so determined on avoiding it?'
Lira nodded and slowly turned toward the narrow street leading away from the square. "Let's move."
They spread out, each taking a segment along the crumbling wall that encircled the village. Korr headed west, checking the collapsed smithy and the pair of broken grain silos. Calem and Renn moved southeast, disappearing behind the shattered remains of a barracks and the scorched training yard. Lira took the central section, carefully navigating between overturned carts and broken statues.
Gray wandered alone, following the line of jagged stone and snow past rows of crooked homes and hollow shops. Most of the doors were jammed shut, warped by frost or simply missing. The interiors were dark, frozen, lifeless. He checked what he could, but most cellars were either collapsed or filled with solid ice. The sudden change in the earth had definitely changed the place. He could only imagine how much of the town was lost, under the ice and snow.
Time passed quickly. The sky dimmed from orange to a pale, icy blue. Then, gradually, to a deeper gray. Evening had passed quickly, and with it came that particular silence unique to ruined places.
Gray stopped when he saw the silhouette of the church. It stood crooked on the far side of the town, leaning slightly as if the ground beneath had shifted. Its once-tall spire was gone, snapped off at the base. A jagged crack ran diagonally across its stained-glass window, warping the image of the figures within.
He stepped inside.
The air was still. Heavy. Dust floated lazily through slivers of moonlight pouring from a hole in the roof. The faint scent of old wood, dried blood, and something faintly metallic lingered. Gray's breath fogged the space in front of him as he walked forward.
'Lira said she visited this place on the first night...'
Wooden pews lay in disarray. Some had rotted through, others had splintered under fallen debris.
"At least this place is warm, makes me feel better." He mumbled quietly. Without Vyre he no longer could channel his skill Frozen Veins. Meaning he was almost freezing to death whenever he left the house.
He made his way to one that remained intact and sat down near the front of the room. His weight shifted the wood with a quiet creak. He sat there, breathing slowly, letting the silence settle. Letting the cold seeped away.
His eyes drifted to the murals painted along the curved interior walls. Despite the damage, the images remained partially intact.
Seven towering figures stood at the center of the composition. Each cloaked in light or shadow, their faces obscured by hoods or masks. Symbols floated above their heads, glyphs that looked both sacred and alien. Behind them loomed twisted beasts, monstrous shapes rising from a sea of darkness. In the middle, the central figure held out one hand, halting a tide of corruption. The others flanked him, some holding weapons, others chains or flames.
Gray stared at the central figure for a long time. There was something familiar in the stance. The shape.
'Wait... Isn't that the guy i saw in that vision? In the cave when the Rank Seven was kidnapped?'
The central figure looked far too familiar, his sword, his stance.
'Perhaps he's a sort of God that people worship. It would explain why he's all over Glacierfang.'
He rose to his feet and stepped around the altar. The floor was uneven here, and the crimson rug behind it had frayed into curling edges. Something about the space felt wrong, misaligned, disturbed.
He frowned and proceeded to kneel, brushing the rug aside.
Beneath it, hidden beneath a thin layer of frost and dust, was a trapdoor. The iron ring in its center was tarnished but intact. Gray's hands trembled slightly as he gripped it and pulled. The trapdoor groaned as it opened, the sound loud in the silence. Something about it pulled him in. His curiosity spiking like adrenaline.
A narrow staircase descended into darkness. The air that rose from it was colder, sharper. He lowered himself slowly, step by step.
The wooden walls gave way to smooth stone, damp and ancient. His footsteps echoed faintly, swallowed by the heavy air. As he descended further, the space grew wider, the tunnel expanding until it opened into a vast underground chamber.
Gray stopped at the threshold.
The cavern was enormous. Jagged rock walls curved outward like the ribs of some long-buried creature. Icy stalactites clung to the ceiling, glinting faintly. Patches of bioluminescent growth clung to the cracks in the stone, their glow soft and blue.
Water dripped slowly from above, each drop landing with a quiet echo.
And at the far edge of the cavern, like a fragile miracle growing in defiance of the cold, Gray saw it.
A blue coloured moss that hung from the ceiling. It looked identical to the one Mira had shown him.
It was none other than Frostpine moss
It spread to the base of a broad stone pillar, pulsing faintly with a pale blue light. Its surface shimmered as if holding tiny veins of ice. Gray let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. This would help Adel. It might not save her completely, but it would give her a chance.
He looked around bwfore moving further. Something gave him the creeps. But he couldn't identify what it was.
'Why is there an underground chamber for a church? Is this the basement? Or perhaps it's remnants...'
He shook his head and took a step forward.
Then something shifted.
A soft crunch echoed in the distance, followed by a wet, tearing sound.
Gray froze dead in his tracks. His hand moved instinctively to the hilt of his blade.
To the right of the moss, crouched beside a long-decayed corpse, was a creature. It was small, no larger than a child, but its proportions were wrong. Skin like gray stone covered its body. Two bony wings folded tight against its back. Its limbs were long and too thin, with clawed fingers sunk deep into the chest of the long-dead body.
Its head lifted slowly.
Eyes sunken and glowing with a pale white light stared at Gray. Its face was round and smooth, almost childlike, but wrong in every detail. Then it smiled.
Rows of tiny, needle-like teeth filled its mouth. It tilted its head, curious, and took a slow step forward.
Gray's heart pounded. He drew his blade but didn't move. The creature made no sound. It did not charge. It simply stood there, watching him.
The soft blue glow of the moss shimmered quietly between them.
Then the creature crouched lower, almost folding in on itself.
Waiting.
Watching.
The cavern held its breath.
And so did Gray.